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Solihull Moors 1 County 0 ; Conference North

I`m in
difficulties here.....I am not at all sure that I can adequately represent the
truly awful game I have just watched. You maybe will think I am exaggerating,
but then again perhaps youhave been to
Edgeley Park or followed the blues away this season ,and thus are only too
aware of how the land lies these days with our team. Anyway.........I will
press on.....this is how I saw things today......

County
stretched the patience of their loyal supporters today with an insipid
performance that ensured all the available points went to Solihull. With our
hosts, who had played so well at Edgeley Park so recently, apparently having an
off day themselves, from early on it was clear that there was something for
County in the game if they just applied themselves. This however proved beyond
them as their game subsided into a master class in lumping it long.Unfortunately this approach got the response
it deserved from Moors, and a single goal , result of ineffectual defending,
was enough to see County, who had mustered but one shot on target in 90 odd
minutes, off.

Teams out.......

However.....three
o`clock saw a decent County following taking up positions inthe neat Autotech Stadium that had good cover
and seating on 2 sides. There was only one change from the last game in the
County starting line up, that of Moses for Platt, which perhaps signalled a
reliance on solid defence ( the Moses option) as opposed to one of attacking
verve( Option Platt).

The first
action proved to be deceptive in so far as Jas Singh, got himself into a mini
tangle faced with Dennis , who charged into the box after the first `high and
hopeful’ one from County , the home
keeper survived, but only just.

If I was at
all buoyed by this, the feeling did not last long , despite good work from
Churchman and Moses, as the referee then gave Moors a joke free kick that
proved not at all funny, as Ormson dived to keep a strike by Darryl Knights out
after Fleet had lifted the kick high into the box. County struggled with the
corner and again when Exodus Geohaghan launched one of his specials immediately
after. They just couldn`t clear the ball, and it was fortunate that Knights
shot missed the target, as the blues looked distinctly vulnerable.

Exodus prepares to launch an Exocet!

This
vulnerability continued with Milligan losing the ball to Knights, and County were
glad to concede a corner as Junior English pinged a cross in. Ormson claimed
the pill from the corner.....danger averted.......but County were making hard
work of things, and needed to tighten up quickly!

There was a
brief flurry of blue excitement as Singh had to react swiftly to sweep up as
Howard threatened. The keeper`s actions saw any danger off, and Reece Fleet did
similar, finding touch rapidly, as Howard took the ball to the by line. It was
good that County pressed a bit during this period, but it was never with any
great conviction, or significant end product. Indeedsome of County`s play was decidedly loose ,
puttingthe back four under pressure,
fortunately though Solihull were looking no better and Rick Taundry emphasised
this by latching onto a County loose one before spraying an awful ball out.

More action from first 45.

County had
to tighten up then, as I have already said, but they also needed to do a bit
going forward as well, Howard was trying but where were the others? Singh had
no difficulty dealing with a high one from Duxbury, after Howard had worked
hard down the left, and County promptly fell back as the referee again obliged
Moors when Omar Bogle sought a rest on the deck. The free kick had County
struggling again and they were thankful to see Knights shot fly wide of the
target.

Ist half action.

On it went
with Solihull not that switched on, whilst County struggled to attain even
those giddy heights. Still passes were going astray with regularity, and when
fortune briefly favoured them and they got a free kick, they promptly wasted
it- in short...on the ball the blues were distinctly unimpressive!

Ormson onto one......

Off toward
the break we headed( not half quickly enough for me and others who were in
danger of dozing off).....with Dennis well short of getting to a couple of
hopeful through balls from Howard and Milligan respectively.

At the other
end it was heart in mouth time as Charnock got himself in a bit of a tangle faced with
the advancing Bogle- County escaped without cost from this, but it did not
instil confidence. Neither did the next action as Geohaghan presented a gift to
Jevons just outside the box. It was a chance of sorts, but Jevonsfluffed it and Fleet was able to clear his lines.

Into the
last minute of normal time we went and County chose this moment to at last test
Singh. Lees started it by cutting out an attempted Moors break. From him it
swiftly went to Milligan who lifted it to the back of the box where Howard
lurked. Howard did well and his instant control won him a shooting chance and
he took it firing in a decent shot, but Singh was equal to it and a fine stop
kept it at 0-0 as 1 minute of added time was announced.

Tussle on edge of Moors box.

County
continued to press during added time and there was no doubt that, under
pressure , Geohaghan had handled the ball and prevented anything more damaging
coming from County. It looked deliberate to me, using the `Dan Meeson/ Fagbola
formulae’- which you will recall insists that a player who shows NO intent to
handle but has the ball blasted at him from 5 or 6 yards away, earns a red card
if the ball strikes his hand! Plain enough then, but I was never in any doubt
that a yellow would suffice and that was the outcome. It was also the last
action of an enormously sleep inducing 45 minutes!

Worlds Best Eatery, early on before crowds arrived and queues formed!

I took the
opportunity to consult the blog`s Gastronomic Guru( Jeff),at this point, and he
was effusive about the`Burger, Bacon
and Onions ‘ barm he had just consumed. Suitably impressed I plumped for a
bacon roll, and this also was excellent, and it was adequate comment on the
catering to say that, despite very efficient service, long queues surrounded
the eatery right up to and after the final whistle.

Gastronomic Guru caught on camera along with Bacon, burger and onion barm!

The teams
were just preparing to come out, when I overheard a local say “ if they had
anything about them ( meaning us)they could win this one!” I could just about
understand where he was coming from......Solihull were a pale shadow of the
decent team that pushed us all the way some weeks ago...it was just that County
were not looking capable of capitalising on this. In fact it took them just 7
minutes to emphasise this as a Geohaghan exocet pushed the bluesback. Charnock blocked it, and
O`Hallorandid likewise to Knight`s follow
up, but County then faffed about prodigiously and long enough for Omar Bogle to
work himself a notional shooting chance, which he despatched past Ormson with
precision. It was 1-0 to Moors, and no great surprise really.

I recalled
the combination of Battersby and Oates doing well at our place against the same
opposition, but both were languishing on the bench, which was not helpful at
all, with no threat at all materialising from the forwards just now!

County press, ist half.

County
continued to struggle though, and Ormson did well to push a shot from English
around the post. He did less well under pressure from Geohaghan when the corner
came across, and again County were fortunate to see Dior Angus lift his shot
over the bar.

Duxbury and Angus working hard.

The hour
mark arrived, marked by Battersby and Oates taking the places of Churchman and
Howard, but the minutes that followed continued to look bleak from a blue
perspective as English and Bogle both went close. Yes....Moors were gaining in
confidence, but Knights still could not hit the target lifting another effort
over the top when reasonably placed. By way of contrast County`s confidence
looked shot, and Charnock did well to keep a Bogle shot out after Ormson had
spilled a corner , the prelude to a moment of collective madness from a clutch
of blue shirted defenders.

It continued
with Ormson somehow keeping another English shot out, after another forgettable
moment of wayward decision making in the box from County.

County were
trying......still, but with no increase
in efficiency, and after Jevons had won a neat free kick, Milligan promptly
wasted it by lumping it way wide.

Here`s Milligan lining up his free kick.........

.....and here`s where it went!

Into 4
minutes added time and County`s plight was summed up neatly when a late corner
saw Moses well set to despatch at least a shot on target, but instead he swung
a leg and duly missed the ball completely.

By this
stage the abuse was flying from some of the County fans, not all of it well
chosen or 100% correct. I just wanted the end and soon enough it came and we
could head off home.

That was not
good and I hope for much much better on Tuesday at Kidderminster!

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